What to do when a client is suddenly “bored”?

I have a client who was doing great – motivated, progressing, etc. Suddenly, there are complications: she doesn’t “like” to sweat, she can’t jump because her arches hurt, she won’t work out on her own time anymore. She’s getting new shoes, which will hopefully address the issue of her sore arches (and therefore opening up new exercise opportunities during our sessions). However, she’s “bored” and wants to do other things. I’ve been working on the major muscle groups with her, using a variety of full-body exercises, along with more traditional strength and resistance training. She’s happy with her muscle tone and likes to see her progress there. Her current goal is weight loss.

Any ideas on how to motivate her? Any ideas on finding new “fun” exercises that she can do within these new limitations? It’s very frustrating because I feel like she’s her own worst enemy and needs to give a little (but not with pain), but I also want to make her happy and find things for her to do that she’ll enjoy.

Thank you for any advice!

13 Answers

Hi Alissa. I utilize exercise ‘games’ with my clients (intermingled with traditional exercises) to keep things fresh and fun. In my 20-years of training this has served me well with clients of all ages (I have worked with clients as young as 6 years old and as old as 85). The games provide new challenges, an opportunity to laugh and smile while working out, and serve to ignite the ‘competitive spirit’ (even if its with the client against themselves). Interestingly, one of the common-themes that I’ve received from my clients in soliciting their ‘testimonials’ is how their programs are “fun, challenging, and never boring.”

You could suggest to her to sign up for a race of her choice. It can be a running or a bike race or even an obstacle race. This might help her get motivated again and she will have a goal to accomplish. If you do it with her, she might be even more excited about it and also have some fun along the way.

I would sit down with her and reset her goals in writing then ask her how she will achieve them I would approach this subject with her and point out to her that you have noticed this change and would like to figure out a way to overcome the standstill

Hi Alissa, I have been a group fitness instructor for many years and am now working on my personal training certification, so I don’t have a ton of experience with one on one, but hopefully I can offer advice that might help. I get bored easily, so I understand. I have to find new, fun things to do all the time. A huge motivator for me is music, so I try to find new music that gets me pumped. I have a BIG issue with my feet hurting and I can barely make it through a class without tears sometimes. I have very high arches and finally found that Brooks Pure Cadence fits my feet the best. Sounds like she’s already taking care of that issue, but maybe you could suggest having her feet fitted for what type of shoe would be best. I know that I am a much happier person when my feet don’t kill me.

I also love dancing, so I teach a hip hop aerobics class and it doesn’t feel like a workout to me. I’m sure you’ve done this already, but if you haven’t, maybe you can ask her what she enjoys doing and cater a workout to that. There are so many different types of workouts like SURFSET, TRX, and Pink Gloves Boxing that don’t require a lot of high impact, but give an awesome workout.

I really like the previous comments about doing exercise games. That sounds fun. Also, like Susan said, maybe talk with her and get her mind back in the game.